Picking a Running Shoe- Does Foot Type Matter?
Neutral shoes, motion control shoes, stability shoes, cushioned shoes. You’ve seen these signs in the running store right?
Buying a running shoe often goes like this: You step on a mat to have your foot type measured, and then buy a shoe that matches your foot type to reduce your risk of injury.
This pattern of prescribing shoes went unquestioned for a long time.
Matching Shoes To Foot Type: What the Data Says
In 2009 a group of researchers tried to find data supporting this practice. They conducted a thorough review of the scientific data we had and they were unable to find any studies that supported prescribing shoes to runners based on their foot type.
Since then, some larger studies have been done to investigate the same topic
Knapic et al performed a set of 3 studies in military recruits. You can see their full summary of those studies here.
In each study, they put the recruits into 2 groups:
One group who received shoes based on their foot type,
The control group did not have their shoes matched to foot type.
After following these subjects through their training, they found no difference in injury rates between the groups. In other words: Prescribing shoes based on foot type did not reduce injury rates.
The same basic experiment was completed again in a group of 81 female runners. They found that matching running shoes to foot type did not reduce injury risk. In fact, they found that pronated and neutral feet had more pain in motion control shoes compared to the other shoe types.
“The findings of this study suggest that our current approach of prescribing in-shoe pronation control systems on the basis of foot type is overly simplistic and potentially injurious .” - Ryan 2010
But What if We’re Studying This Topic Incorrectly?
There is one big paper that goes against the grain at a glance, but a deep dive tells a different story.
These researchers gave runners either a motion control shoe or a neutral shoe and followed them for 6 months.
Here’s their written conclusion:
”The overall injury risk was lower in participants who had received motion control shoes. Based on secondary analysis, those with pronated feet may benefit most from this shoe type.” -Masiloux 2015
But the numbers tell a more complete story:
Look at the number of healthy subjects. The motion control shoes and the neutral shoes resulted in a similar number of health runners. There was almost 2x the number of dropouts in the motion control group. These findings were left out in the write up on the study.
The drop out rate is important. We don’t have any data on these subjects. In both groups, some of the dropouts were likely injured- but we don’t know how many.
I think the conclusion of this study should have said: “Motion control shoes and neutral shoes resulted in equal numbers of healthy runners. There were more injuries in the neutral shoe group, and more dropouts in the motion control group”.
Newer Data:
If matching running shoes to static arch type doesn’t matter then we should ask “Does matching shoes to dynamic arch movement matter?”
New research is coming out on both sides of the argument: (5, 6, 7, 8). It will take some time to answer this question.
It’s hard to measure dynamic motions of the foot while they are inside a shoe for research purposes. It’s even harder to achieve in a clinical or commercial setting. For now, we can’t say for sure whether matching shoe type to dynamic foot type is beneficial.
What to Do Instead:
The current research shows that shoe prescription doesn’t need to be as specific as we once thought. When prescribing shoes to healthy athletes, I want them to adhere to this checklist:
The shoe should feel comfortable out of the box. You shouldn’t have to “break in” the shoe. If it feels wrong in the store, it’s probably the wrong shoe for you.
The shoe should fit well. Don’t buy a shoe a 1/2 size up or down from your correct fit just because you like a certain model or color. Buy a good fitting shoe.
The shoe should match your style of running. If you’re training on roads, then buy a road shoe. The same goes for trail running. Some shoes are made for faster running. Use those shoes for faster workouts or races.
If your shoes fulfill this criteria, then the shoe is probably a suitable shoe for you.
“But I Switched to a New Shoe and It Gave Me An Injury”
I appreciate that some athletes feel that a new shoe gave them an injury, but it’s not that simple.
The shoe certainly could have caused an injury, but it doesn’t mean that type of shoe is off limits. Perhaps a different brand of shoe in the same style (cushioned, structured, minimal etc) would be another suitable option.
Or shoe may have been fine, but it was too drastic of a change from their previous shoe and they switched too quickly.
Even if the shoe did cause an injury, we have not been find a predictable method to figure out which shoes will be problematic for different athletes.
There are just too many variables, and every runner is different.
Takeaways:
When first reviewed in 2009, there were no studies to validate the idea of prescribing running shoes based on foot type
When studied more, prescribing running shoes based on foot type does not reduce injury rates
We need to investigate the importance of prescribing shoes based on dynamic foot type
References:
1 Richards CE, Magin PJ, Callister R. Is your prescription of distance running shoes evidence-based?. Br J Sports Med. 2009;43(3):159‐162. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2008.046680
2 Knapik JJ, Trone DW, Tchandja J, Jones BH. Injury-reduction effectiveness of prescribing running shoes on the basis of foot arch height: summary of military investigations. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2014;44(10):805‐812. doi:10.2519/jospt.2014.5342
3 Ryan MB, Valiant GA, McDonald K, Taunton JE. The effect of three different levels of footwear stability on pain outcomes in women runners: a randomised control trial. Br J Sports Med. 2011;45(9):715‐721. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2009.069849
4 Malisoux L, Chambon N, Delattre N, et al Injury risk in runners using standard or motion control shoes: a randomised controlled trial with participant and assessor blinding British Journal of Sports Medicine 2016;50:481-487.
5 Jafarnezhadgero A, Alavi-Mehr SM, Granacher U. Effects of anti-pronation shoes on lower limb kinematics and kinetics in female runners with pronated feet: The role of physical fatigue. PLoS One. 2019;14(5):e0216818. Published 2019 May 14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0216818
6 Jafarnezhadgero AA, Sorkhe E, Oliveira AS. Motion-control shoes help maintaining low loading rate levels during fatiguing running in pronated female runners. Gait Posture. 2019;73:65‐70. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2019.07.133
7 Silva ÉQ, Miana AN, Ferreira JSSP, Kiyomoto HD, Dinato MCME, Sacco ICN. The Association Between Rearfoot Motion While Barefoot and Shod in Different Types of Running Shoes in Recreational Runners. J Sports Sci Med. 2020;19(2):383‐389. Published 2020 May 1.
8 Ceyssens, L., Vanelderen, R., Barton, C. et al. Biomechanical Risk Factors Associated with Running-Related Injuries: A Systematic Review. Sports Med 49, 1095–1115 (2019).
